Eric Trump compares Bitcoin and gold portability, travel risks, legal hurdles, and why crypto is digital gold.
The conversation around how we store and move money is changing, and recently, Eric Trump weighed in on the matter.
He pointed out that while you can carry crypto anywhere, moving physical gold through an airport is much harder.
His statement shows a major change in how the modern world sees different assets over the years.
Why The Difference Matters for Travelers
The main point of Eric Trump’s argument is about portability.
For thousands of years, gold served as the main way to protect wealth against inflation.
However, gold is heavy and takes up a lot of space. This means that if you wanted to carry $1 million in gold today, you would need to haul about 33 pounds of metal.
This makes it very easy for customs officials to spot during a routine security check.
🇺🇸 ERIC TRUMP: "You can carry your Bitcoin everywhere but try taking Gold through an airport, and you'll be jailed for money laundering!" pic.twitter.com/DAO8aPgQe8
— Documenting Saylor (@saylordocs) January 23, 2026
Bitcoin, on the other hand, works differently because it lives on a decentralised ledger. This means that a person can move a fortune across an ocean by memorising a 12-word recovery phrase or using a small hardware wallet that looks like a thumb drive.
To a customs agent, that device is just a piece of plastic. However, to the traveler, it represents access to their entire net worth.
This “borderlessness” is why many people now call it digital gold.
The Legal Reality of Carrying Gold
While it is legal to own gold, moving it between countries can be very complicated.
In particular, most countries require travellers to report any assets worth more than $10,000 at airports.
Today, many people believe that gold is a simple commodity, but laws often treat it like cash or other monetary instruments. This means that if a traveler fails to declare their gold, they face serious consequences.
Authorities can also sometimes use civil asset laws to seize any undeclared wealth.
If you cannot prove where the money came from, you might face a money laundering investigation, and this is the “jail” risk that Eric Trump mentioned.
Even if the “mover” isinnocent, the legal battle to get their gold back can take years. The physical nature of gold also makes it a major target for every checkpoint and border crossing.
Bitcoin and the Concept of Invisible Borders
Technically, Bitcoin does not “enter” a country because it does not exist in a physical form. When a person fles with a seed phrase in their head, nothing has actually crossed the border.
This is because every Bitcoin stays on the blockchain, which is accessible from anywhere with an internet connection.
It is currently impossible for customs agencies to search a traveller’s mind for their seed phrase. They also rarely seize hardware wallets unless they suspect that other crimes are happening.
This gives Bitcoin (and most other cryptos) a massive edge in terms of privacy. And for people living under strict governments, this technology can be a major survival tool that physical gold cannot provide.
Related Reading: Bitwise Launches ETF Backed by Bitcoin and Gold to Hedge Fiat Risk
Physical Versus Digital Wealth
Some people still prefer gold because it is a tangible object. Gold does not need electricity or a satellite network to stay valuable, and if a massive global event takes out the internet, a gold coin will always be a solid medium of exchange.
This “off-grid” feature is something that digital assets do not offer.
However, gold is much harder to hide than Bitcoin. If a person tries bury it or keep it in a safe, it is still a physical target.
Bitcoin transactions, on the other hand, are recorded on a public ledger. This means that governments can track its movement and while it is easy to carry through an airport, the digital trail is permanent.
